Microsoft Office System Customer Solution Case Study

Bombardier Tackles Workforce Evolution with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Overview “We’re confident that the system will support dealer Country or Region: Canada productivity well into the future, even as we expand Industry: Manufacturing our retail network.” Customer Profile Réal Deslauriers, CIO, BRP Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) designs motorized recreational vehicles. Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP) manufactures Headquartered in Valcourt, Quebec, the company has 6,500 employees and a recreational vehicles, including Ski-Doo® snowmobiles and 5,000-dealer network that continues to Sea-Doo® watercraft and sport boats. The company relies on a grow. vast, worldwide dealer network to sell and service its products. Business Situation BRP operated an extranet that gave dealers access to The technology supporting BRP’s extranet for dealer communication was in marketing material, warranty, order, inventory and other items danger of becoming obsolete. The required to run successful dealerships. But the extranet’s company sought a more modern extranet platform with better document underlying technology was in danger of becoming obsolete, and management capabilities. BRP was worried that the system wouldn’t scale up to support

Solution its growing dealer community. Working with Microsoft® Gold Working with Microsoft® Gold Certified Certified Partner CGI Group, BRP replaced the aging extranet Partner CGI Group, BRP implemented an enhanced extranet platform infrastructure with a new Microsoft-based solution, incorporating incorporating Microsoft Office Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 for enhanced SharePoint® Server 2007 for improved information management. document management. Now BRP’s extranet is easier to use, less expensive to operate, and better positioned to support Benefits  Better information access BRP’s growing dealer network.  Improved data security  Cost savings  Future-proofed platform Situation The existing BOSSWeb lacked a Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. sophisticated search capability, so dealers (BRP), a privately-held company, is a world and BRP employees wasted time hunting leader in the design, development, through the 60,000 to 80,000 documents manufacturing, distribution and marketing on the system to find information they of motorized recreational vehicles. Its needed. portfolio of brands and products includes: Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo BRP also wanted the new extranet to be watercraft and sport boats, Evinrude and more agile to change without draining Johnson outboard engines, direct injection internal IT resources. The original technologies such as E-TEC, Can-Am all- BOSSWeb’s user interface, business logic terrain vehicles and roadsters, Rotax and underlying data were tightly coupled, engines and karts. so changes to one part of the system affected other areas. This made system BRP developed an external-facing portal or enhancements a complicated process. extranet to help service its vast dealer What’s more, it was difficult to assign community. Called BOSSWeb, this access privileges that allowed dealers to business-to-business communication decide who among their staff was permitted system gave dealers access to vehicle to enter BOSSWeb and have access to specifications, repair information, lists of specific documents and transactions. available parts, press releases, marketing Although dealers could manage their material and other items needed to run security before, the new extranet made it successful dealerships. The system easier for them. provided information in seven languages so dealers everywhere could access the Reliability was another important factor. documentation. But by 2006 BOSSWeb’s “With dealers accessing BOSSWeb 24-7 underlying technology was in danger of from all over the world, it needed to be becoming obsolete, and finding experts reliable all the time – even as we moved who understood the aging infrastructure from the old platform to the new one,” said was difficult. Soon it would be nearly Réal Deslauriers, CIO, BRP. impossible for BRP to maintain the system for optimal dealer service, even as the Solution company’s dealer community continued to BRP turned to Microsoft® Gold Certified grow. Partner CGI Group for a solution. Specializing in systems integration and “We knew we needed something new to consulting, CGI recommended a new support the dealerships and to ensure that extranet platform with the document the platform was viable in the future,” said management capabilities of Microsoft Réal Deslauriers, VP, Information Systems, Office SharePoint® Server 2007. Part of BRP. “We considered how we could build a the 2007 Office system, Office SharePoint more modern B2B infrastructure.” Server 2007 supports Web content management, records management and BRP sought an extranet solution that effective search to help people sort through supported better information management. large amounts of data. minimal coding. The Microsoft Visual “BRP considered an earlier version of Studio® Team System 2005 application SharePoint, but we recommended the life-cycle management solution helped CGI newest edition instead,” said Alain test and qualify the new BOSSWeb Bergeron, Vice-President, eBusiness platform in a way that made it easier for Delivery Centers, CGI. “Office SharePoint developers to collaborate and help Server 2007 has improved search streamline project management. algorithms and advanced user-access management capabilities. It also integrates “We also used Office SharePoint Server very well with the extranet solution we 2007 internally for document management designed for BRP because the entire and information exchanges,” said CGI’s system is largely based on Microsoft Bergeron. “It became our central software.” information-control centre for the project.” The complete extranet solution is an integrated infrastructure incorporating best Working side by side, CGI and BRP moved practices in software development, thousands of documents from the old business applications and end-user tools. BOSSWeb platform onto the new system, The system incorporates the company’s ensuring the data was always accessible existing Microsoft SQL Server® database throughout the migration process. BRP system and the Microsoft Windows® coordinated the move by focusing on one Communication Foundation (WCF) region at a time, alerting dealers in each programming model for service-oriented area that they would soon be using the new applications, allowing CGI to separate the BOSSWeb. By October 2007, BRP’s user interface, business logic and data improved extranet was live. layers of the system. This way, changes to one part of the platform wouldn’t require Benefits changing the other parts, simplifying future Now that the aging components have been enhancements. In the past, interface, replaced, BRP’s extranet affords better business-logic and data changes were information access and improved data strongly linked, discouraging major security for BRP and its dealers. The new enhancements. Now, BRP could re-use the system is also easier to manage, making it existing user interface while enhancing the less costly to operate over the long term. back-end functionality of the system, And it supports BRP’s growing dealer helping to ensure the company wouldn’t population, which is integral to the have to invest in extensive end-user organization’s ongoing success. training to teach employees and dealers on the new system. Better information access Users no longer waste time digging for the CGI also employed the SAP.NET information they need. The Office Connector to integrate the Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 search engine system with BRP’s Enterprise Resource makes it easier for BRP employees and Planning (ERP) platform, and an ASP.NET dealers to find relevant documents. 2.0 unified Web development environment for designing business software with “It certainly is faster,” Deslauriers said. Whereas the previous BOSSWeb had a “Now the dealers can access information at tightly coupled architecture, the new the click of a mouse. They spend less time version employs a service-oriented hunting for repair manuals and approach. This de-coupled infrastructure specifications and have more time for sales allows BRP to add new business rules, and service. The whole point of dealer change the data and enhance the user service is to get people onto their BRP interface without changing other parts of vehicles. The faster they can find the system at the same time. information, the sooner they can sell and service our products.” “Now BRP can implement system upgrades gradually,” Bergeron said. “The Improved data security company won’t have to invest heavily for With Office SharePoint Server 2007, each improvement.” dealers can set up individual security settings for each employee, ensuring that It’s also less expensive to operate the confidential information such as parts-order system, as it’s based on standard Microsoft entry and financial details are only technology that BRP developers already accessed by authorized personnel, helping understood. BRP no longer has to hire to protect dealers’ businesses. BRP also specialized technicians to manage an has better control over dealer information isolated technology stack. access. It’s easier to implement access privileges to make sure people at one Future-proofed platform dealership can’t see documents from BRP will be able to leverage the vast another dealership, for example. network of Microsoft technology partners “We rely on our dealers to support and sell such as CGI to cost-effectively enhance the our vehicles – but of course, our dealers BOSSWeb platform. As well, BRP’s rely on us to keep their information safe extranet is scalable to support a significant and secure,” Deslauriers said. “With amount of users, and it’s designed to meet BOSSWeb’s enhanced security, it’s simpler the company’s requirements as new for us to meet that requirement.” Microsoft-based solutions become available. Cost savings During the design process, BRP made it “We were concerned about the previous clear that the existing BOSSWeb user BOSSWeb platform being able to scale up interface should remain intact. CGI to support our dealers as their numbers maintained the look and feel of the original increased,” Deslauriers said. “Now we’re system by incorporating the established confident that the system will support front end with the new Microsoft-based dealer productivity well into the future, even back-end functionality. As a result, dealers as we expand our retail network.” found the new BOSSWeb as easy to use as the original. This allowed BRP to save money that otherwise would have funded user training. For More Information Microsoft Office System For more information about Microsoft The Microsoft Office system is the business products and services, call the Microsoft world’s chosen environment for information Sales Information Center at (800) 426- work, providing the programs, servers, and 9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft services that help you succeed by Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- transforming information into impact. 2495. Customers who are deaf or hard- of-hearing can reach Microsoft text For more information about the Microsoft telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) Office system, go to: 892-5234 in the United States or (905) www.microsoft.com/office 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com

For more information about CGI products and services, call (514) 841 - 3200 or visit the Web site at: www.cgi.com

For more information about Bombardier Recreational Products and services, call (450) 532 - 2211 or visit the Web site at: www.brp.com

Partners Software and Services .  Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007  Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation  Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2005

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published June 2009